Ukraine cannot beat measles due to lack of vaccines

Ukrainian doctors say that the measles epidemic is growing in the country due to the actual lack of prevention. According to the virologist, a member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Health of Ukraine Denis Pavlovsky, today, up to 500 people a day are infected with this dangerous disease, and since the beginning of the year more than a dozen Ukrainians have died from the virus.

At a press conference in Kiev, a famous physician Pavlovsky reported the data obtained by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in early March, the correspondent reports. Federal news agency.

“For the third year in a row, the country has witnessed a sharp epidemic increase in the incidence of measles,” said Pavlovsky. – If in 2016 102 people got sick, then in 2017 – already 4.7 thousand, 7 died (four of them are children). And in 2018, 54.5 thousand cases were recorded, 16 of them died.

But this year has begun much tougher than even the past. During the first two months, more than 23 thousand cases of measles were recorded! We are actually talking about 400-500 new cases of diseases per day! If we do not take preventive measures, then at the same rate, more than 150 thousand Ukrainians will fall ill until the end of the year. ”

In this case, the physician said that the fault of the leadership of the Ministry of Health, headed by Uljan Suprun At the beginning of March, many Ukrainian hospitals and clinics were left without drugs. First of all, there is no measles vaccine.

“In other metropolitan medical institutions they state that they have nothing to vaccinate adults with — there are vaccinations only for children,” says Pavlovsky. – Moreover, in many private clinics in Kiev, measles vaccines are also absent.

But in 90% of cases, measles is like a flu, only with a rash. She is not lethal. And the fact that such a wild catastrophe with measles is happening in Ukraine now is a sign of the absolute impotence of our Ministry of Health! ”He resents.

The physician recalled that in order to quickly resolve the situation with measles in Ukraine, only the required quantity of high-quality vaccines is sufficient, as well as the confidence of Ukrainians themselves in vaccination.

“This procedure is very simple, it can even be done by a nurse. So the root of the current problem is also a question of mistrust of the system, said Pavlovsky. – The critical situation with measles in the country is caused by the mistakes of the Ministry of Health. It was they who provoked the population’s mistrust of vaccination. ”

According to the physician, today in the Ukrainian schools a huge number of children are studying, whose parents refuse vaccination. There are several reasons for this: someone is afraid of complications after vaccinations, someone believes in the myths about the dangers of vaccinations, and someone just does not care about the health of their children.

But the most dangerous thing is that in Ukraine, besides unvaccinated children, there are still millions of adults who have never had measles. But they did not receive the vaccination on time due to the artificial shortage of vaccines created by the leadership of the Ministry of Health. And in this specialists see the potential for the possible occurrence of a measles pandemic in the country.

In addition, as recently stated in UNICEF, measles in Ukraine has reached a threatening level “due to anti-vaccination campaigns, as a result of which people refuse vaccination from potentially fatal diseases. According to UNICEF, Ukraine leads the top ten countries, where in 2018 they recorded the largest number of measles cases.

And the executive director of UNICEF Henrietta Fort unequivocally hinted to Ukraine that “measles is a disease, but disinformation, distrust and negligence often act as real infections.”

Pavlovsky also recalled what measures American officials had taken upon learning of 23 US citizens who had measles. Then in one of the US states an emergency situation was declared – with an epidemiological investigation, isolation of those who had contact with the infected, etc.

“And in Ukraine we have nothing. Well, except for vaccination. The patients themselves sit in the transport, go to the hospital, there are no places … Then they again climb into the transport – and home.

As a result, the virus is spreading rapidly. At the same time, no one works with the restriction of patient contacts — in general, “natural selection,” Pavlovsky said bitterly.

Recall that the system of combating infectious diseases in Ukraine was destroyed two years ago, in 2017, after officials eliminated the Sanepid Service (SES). Therefore, now hold emergency events in the outbreaks of the disease there is nobody.

The epidemic of measles in Ukraine is not officially announced. According to the law, only the country's chief sanitary doctor can declare an epidemic, but this position is currently vacant.

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2019
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